Choices and Consequences
by DitzyMusicLover
Summary: From the TF Bunny Farm on LJ, Flamingmarsh wrote: An Autobot does something illegal or bad and a human happens to videotape it. The human sends it in to the news. OF course the Autobots see the news. This is how my muse worked this bunny. Oneshot.


_Transformers is copyright trademark of Hasbro and Takara._

0o0o0o0o0

Not knowing why he was being summoned, Smokescreen chimed the door to Optimus's office. He walked in when the doors opened, and could immediately tell the atmosphere was thick. Optimus Prime sat behind his desk as rigid as Prowl usually does, looking at a datapad.

"Sit down," Optimus said in a calm, but firm tone. Smokescreen took the chair across from the desk. His leader was silent for a moment, a moment that seemed like an eternity. Then he spoke up. "Do you know why I called you in here?"

"No, sir," Smokescreen answered.

Optimus placed something very tiny on the desk in front of Smokescreen. Smokescreen examined the item. It was a local human newspaper dated yesterday. The front page had a picture of him talking with a human, and a few other humans around. The picture took up a good portion of the page, and was under a headline that read, 'Autobots: Not All They Seem.' "It seems you were caught doing some illicit acts. Care to explain yourself?" Optimus asked.

Smokescreen remembered that time. Two days ago he was indulging in a little gambling at a gambling establishment he found. "I heard they had car races going on and I wanted to see," he told a half-truth.

"The racing you went to see was an underground gambling establishment. Meaning illegal. Watching isn't illegal, though it's highly looked down upon." Smokescreen knew the gambling was illegal, and he hoped Optimus didn't know he knew. Optimus fixed Smokescreen with a piercing glare. "But the gambling and the racing is. I have been on the telephone line all morning with the local authorities trying for some damage control."

"Why would you need damage control, sir?"

"See that man there?" Optimus pointed to someone standing behind Smokescreen in the picture that he barely remembered.

"Yeah," Smokescreen answered.

"He was an undercover cop." After a brief pause, he said again, "He WAS an undercover cop."

Smokescreen's head shot up, wide-opticked, at the emphasized word. He was almost afraid to ask. "W-what do you mean 'was'?" he stammered. "You mean he lost his job?"

"More like he lost his life." Smokescreen stalled at the comment. "He was trying to uncover this establishment, working his way to the top guys to bring them down." Optimus gripped the datapad with both hands now. "It seemed someone recognized him in the photo. Yesterday, his body was found in an alleyway. The ones who killed him beat him so badly, that they could put the Decepticons to shame. I will spare you the pictures I was shown."

Smokescreen stared at his hands. "It's my fault," he said more to himself than Optimus.

"That's the problem, Smokescreen. You had no way of knowing where your actions would lead, or what the consequences of your choices would be. I face that, leading this army every cycle. It is not your fault. Remember that."

Optimus sat back and rubbed the bridge of his nose for a moment before he continued. "Unfortunately the man's family doesn't see it that way. They want some kind of retribution. Technically the Diplomatic Immunity I've established with the local government means you don't fall under their jurisdiction. You fall under mine.

"I know about your gambling, Smokescreen, so I must ask. Were you participating in illegal gambling? Tell me the truth." Smokescreen wanted to lie and say 'no', but he couldn't get his vocalizer to work. Optimus nodded to himself, and Smokescreen knew his leader took his silence as confirmation. "I would send you to the Autobot therapist for your gambling, but seeing as that person is you, that's impossible." He handed the datapad he'd been holding to Smokescreen. "This is the compromise. It's the date, time, and location for a human support group called 'Gamblers Anonymous'. You are to report there at the given time. If you don't show, they will inform me personally. The only reason you wouldn't show up is if you're tied up injured in the med-bay, due to a Decepticon battle," Prime's underlying order in that last statement was unmistakable, "in which case I will inform them. Prowl has agreed to schedule your shifts accordingly, though I didn't tell him why you needed the time off. That is all, dismissed."

Smokescreen got up and walked to the door, avoiding looking at Optimus. "Smokescreen," Optimus's voice stopped him at the door before he walked out, but he didn't turn around. "I'd prefer to keep this between you and me and not let it get out to the other Autobots."

Smokescreen halfway turned his head and said, "Thank you." When he walked in Optimus's office, Smokescreen was in the best mood he could be. Now he was in the worst mood he could be.


End file.
